Saturday, 11 January 2025

Research Firm Identifies “Biggest Imminent Threat” For Big Pharma With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As HHS Secretary

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nomination to head Health and Human Services (HHS), has said he wants to prohibit pharmaceutical companies from advertising directly to consumers.

“We are one of only two countries in the world that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to consumers on television. Not surprisingly, Americans consume more pharmaceutical products than anyone else on the planet,” RFK Jr. said.

Before he dropped out of the presidential election and endorsed Trump, RFK Jr. said he would issue an executive order to ban pharmaceutical advertising on television.

WATCH:

If the U.S. Senate confirms RFK Jr. as HHS secretary, banning pharmaceutical advertising will likely still be an objective.

One research firm views banning direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising as the “biggest imminent threat” from RFK Jr.

Fierce Pharma reports:

In a report Sunday, research firm Intron Health suggested that such a ban represents a major risk of RFK Jr.’s (still to-be-confirmed) HHS leadership for the biopharma industry.

“Whilst we have a relatively benign view of RFK’s impact on the Pharma industry, one thing that does worry us is the potential for the US government to ban DTC advertising of drugs,” Intron wrote, adding, “We see this as the biggest imminent threat from RFK and the new Trump administration.”

The analysts noted that because the return on investment for DTC drug ads is quite high—with “estimates ranging as high as 100%-500%, depending on the drug”—pharmas will “almost certainly” see their drug sales take a hit from a DTC ban, even as they save money on marketing spending.

Intron cited Fierce Pharma Marketing’s annual list of the top DTC ad spenders as examples of drugs that could be hardest hit by a potential ban, including AbbVie’s Skyrizi and Rinvoq, and Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent, among others.

“With a stroke of the pen, you can change back the rule that allows pharmaceutical advertisers to do direct-to-consumer ads on television,” RFK Jr. previously said.

WATCH:

RFK Jr. said he would advise President Trump to ban pharmaceutical advertising on television.

WATCH:

Per Daily Caller:

Spending on DTC pharmaceutical advertising in the United States ballooned to more than $7 billion in 2023, with ad buys on weight loss and diabetes drugs surpassing $1 billion for the first time, according to analysis from MediaRadar.

“Whilst we have a relatively benign view of RFK’s impact on the Pharma industry, one thing that does worry us is the potential for the U.S. government to ban DTC advertising of drugs,” United Kingdom-based research firm Intron Health wrote in a report excerpted by FiercePharma, a pharmaceutical industry-focused news outlet. “We see this as the biggest imminent threat from RFK and the new Trump administration.”

Kennedy could wield considerable influence over the second Trump administration’s approach to pharmaceutical advertising since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — the chief regulator of the pharmaceutical industry’s advertisements — is housed within HHS.

The Biden FDA issued new guidelines on DTC advertising that went into effect on May 20, requiring advertising to state drugs’ side effects and medication risks in a “clear, conspicuous, and neutral manner.” Kennedy called for a review of these guidelines in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal published on Sept. 5.


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